Flow restricting Component With Flow Restricting Flaps and Central Opening

ABSTRACT

A flow restrictor for a container. The container has an opening. An edge piece seals with inner surfaces of an opening of a container, the edge piece extending around and seals with an entirety of the inner surfaces of the opening of the container. A plurality of flow restrictor flaps, extend towards a central portion of the opening, each of the flow restrictor flaps being generally triangular in shape. An opening area between each of the distal edges of the end piece forms an opening for a pipette. Where the device inhibits the flow of liquid such that more no more than 2 mL of contents can be obtained when an inverted open container is taken or squeezed once or when the container is squeezed using the strength of an anthropometry-based simulation of a 5 year old child&#39;s applied force.

This application claims priority from Provisional application No. 62/875,914, filed Jul. 18, 2019, the entire contents of which are herewith incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

Certain bottles containing certain materials may be mandated to have certain flow restrictions, e.g., as a child proof measure. As of Mar. 8, 2019, bottles for nicotine containing materials are subject to CPSC enforcement, e.g, in accordance with 16 CFR § 1700.15(d). Similar vials for liquids such as essential oils and other oils have traditionally featured components restricting the flow of the liquid.

Traditional flow inhibitors, referred to as orifice reducers, restrict the flow by incorporating tubelike features affixed to the bottle's aperture. These items limit the amount of fluid dispensed, thus reducing the flow.

Traditional flow restrictors rely on inversion of the bottle to obtain its fluid contents. In addition, these traditional flow restrictors often require specific bottle cap types in order for them to work. Also, the fluid in the bottle cannot be accessed by pipette under reasonable use conditions, e.g., without disassembling

SUMMARY

The present application describes a special flow restricting device which relies on a special mounting taper with flaps and a central opening. The taper device is either concave or convex in one embodiment.

In an embodiment, a flow restrictor is described that inhibits the flow of nicotine containing fluid in accordance with 16 CFR 1700.15d. In embodiments, the flow restrictor component does not compromise the proper functioning of liquid nicotine's packaging or contents, and will not meaningfully chemically alter the vial's contents and allows access to the contents via pipette or the like, without need to invert the vial. In addition, the vial can be inverted to remove liquid in the conventional way.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the Drawings:

FIG. 1 shows the details of the nozzle;

FIG. 2 shows a bottle with the nozzle therein;

FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 show different forms of the nozzle; and

FIG. 6 shows an alternate view of the nozzle; and

FIG. 7 shows a view of the flaps and openings from the front.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments describe a liquid flow prevention device for use in containers such as vials or other containers which have hazardous constituents such as, but not limited to, nicotine.

The flow prevention device allows restriction of fluids when the vial is inverted to remove contents. In addition, the device allows introduction of a cylindrical stemmed pipette into an upright bottle or vial. The pipette, when inserted, causes the flow inhibitor to compact necessarily to enter the vial easily without removing the flow restrictor, and without causing flow restriction failure. Also the device does not meaningfully restrict access to the fluid when the vials containing the fluids are in the upright position. However, this device successfully inhibits the flow of liquid or fluid so that no more than 2 mL of contents can be obtained when an inverted open container is taken or squeezed once or when the container is squeezed using the strength of an anthropometry-based simulation of a 5 year old child's applied force.

An embodiment uses vacuum pressure and curved (convex or concave) tapered flaps. The basic valve 100 includes first and second sealing rings 110, 120, enabling the valve to be located inside the inner surface of the inside closure of a container. For example, FIG. 2 illustrates the container 200 having inside surfaces 210. The first sealing surface 110 is placed against the first location on the inner surfaces 210 and the second sealing surface 120 holds against a second location on the inner surfaces 210, spaced from the first location.

The valve 100 includes an open area at a first end, 220, and includes flaps forming a restriction at the second end. The flaps, 130, 131, 132 and 133 each extend toward the center of the opening, to form a flow restriction. Each of flaps such as 130 is substantially triangular, it extends between an edge portion (in this embodiment the sealing ring 120, and a tip portion adjacent the opening 150, and another edge portion. While this is not a perfect triangle, and in fact may be flat near the tip portion where the pipette is inserted, it is substantially in the shape of a triangle. There is also an open area 140 between each two adjacent flaps such as between the flaps 130 and 132 in FIG. 1. In addition, there is an open central area 150, which is at the location where all the different flaps come together. This open central area can be large enough to allow a pipette to be inserted.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, there can be four flaps which come together at the area 150, however it should be understood that there can be more than four flaps or in some embodiments fewer than four flaps.

In one embodiment, the valves/flaps, are formed of rubber or plastic, for example of TPE, HDPE, LDTE, or PET. More generally, the valve can be formed of any material which discourages chemical leaching. The valves can be formed for example by injection or can be machined or 3D printed.

The sealing mechanisms allow the component to be used in very different bottle types without necessitating any kind of modification to the bottle type or use of a special kind of bottle opening, other than one that fits the valve. The component allows access to the housed fluid when upright, but maintains flow restricted properties when inverted.

The embodiment described above has the flap on the bottom, with a convex mounting taper. The mounting taper is the rounded part at the end of the device. This is shown in further detail in FIG. 3.

There can also, however, be another version shown in FIG. 4 which uses the flap in the middle of the device at the location 405, so it cannot be seen in FIG. 4. FIG. 4 shows two convex mounting tapers at the two ends, including taper 400.

However, the center flap embodiment can have a concave or convex mounting taper 400.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment with the flaps in the middle area 505, but uses a concave mounting taper 500.

FIG. 6 shows the valve from a different angle, showing the sealing parts 110, 120 and the flaps such as 130.

FIG. 7 shows an alternative view of the embodiment, where the flaps are slightly smaller. In this embodiment, there is a flat portion 700 where the insert flattens out from a curvature portion 702, and the openings 710 between the flaps begin at the edge of the flat portion. Each of the flaps 730 is, as in the other embodiments, substantially triangular, and there is an open section 750 between the flaps.

In one particularly preferred embodiment, there can be 4 flaps. FIG. 7 shows an end on view of the device showing the flaps 130, and the opening 150 through which a pipette for other similar device can be inserted in order to obtain liquid contents.

The previous description of the disclosed exemplary embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. Various modifications to these exemplary embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

For example, the flow restrictor can have other numbers of flaps, such as 3 or 5 flaps. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A flow restrictor for a container, comprising an edge piece, that seals with inner surfaces of an opening of a container, the edge piece extending around and sealing with an entirety of the inner surfaces of the opening of the container, a plurality of flow restrictor flaps, extending towards a central portion of the opening, each of the flow restrictor flaps being generally triangular in shape, having a first side adjacent to the edge piece, and having a second edge, narrower in width, forming a distal end of the edge piece, where there are open areas between the edge pieces, and wherein an opening area between each of the distal edges of the end piece forms an opening through which a circular element can be inserted, and where the device inhibits the flow of liquid such that more no more than 2 mL of contents can be obtained when an inverted open container is taken or squeezed once or when the container is squeezed using the strength of an anthropometry-based simulation of a 5 year old child's applied force.
 2. The device as in claim 1, wherein there are four of said edge pieces, each extending towards a center towards the opening area.
 3. The device as in claim 1, wherein the edge piece seals an opening of the container at two distinct and separated portions on the opening.
 4. The device as in claim 3, wherein the container has a round opening, and the edge pieces are first and second sealing surfaces.
 5. The device as in claim 1, where a surface adjacent the edge piece seal is convex.
 6. The device as in claim 1, wherein a surface adjacent the edge piece seal is concave.
 7. The device as in claim 1, wherein the opening is sufficiently large to allow a cylindrical stem of a pipette to be inserted into the opening.
 8. The device as in claim 1, wherein the container is a jar.
 9. The device as in claim 1, where the flaps extend from the edge piece toward the opening area. 